Thanks for your response these are some great compromises :)

I have to agree we cannot do much about spam, and taking an active role in the content you view is probably the best step we can take until something is implemented by the developers. I can never predict which of my posts will become popular and I think this is driving me to post more. For instance, this rant gained me more votes than my photography advice post (same day) which is the primary content I write usually.

I would love to see this discussion continued from all types of content producers. Rather than contribute to the system people everywhere could be actively trying to improve it. Here's to the future! Followed! :)